1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to air conditioning systems, and more particularly, air conditioning systems with improved air distributing mechanisms for use in automotive vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
Automotive air conditioning systems are known in the art. Generally, automotive air conditioners are provided with an air duct which has an air inlet opening and air outlet openings, and includes a heat exchanger with a plurality of damper elements to control the temperature and passageway of the air.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,540 issued to Ikeda et al., which disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an overall construction of an air conditioning system.
Specifically, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, air conditioning system 10 comprises three duct units: blower unit 11; cooling unit 12; and heater unit 13. These three duct units are fluidly connected to each other. Each of the units respectively includes the following described components. Blower unit 11 includes blower unit body 11a, blower device 15 and air inlet opening 14. Air inlet opening 14 communicates with the external space and the automobile compartment through a re-circulated air inlet (not shown). Cooling unit 12 includes cooling unit body 12a and evaporator 16. Evaporator 16 is enclosed within cooling unit body 12a and is part of a refrigerant circuit for cooling air passing therethrough. Heater unit 13 includes heater unit body 13a which encloses the main air passageway through heater unit 13, heater core 17 and a plurality of outlets, such as a defroster outlet 22, a footer outlet 23 and a ventilation outlet 24, each of which opens into the automobile compartment.
Air is drawn into blower unit 11 from air inlet opening 14, and ultimately flows out into the automobile compartment through defroster outlet 22, footer outlet 23 and ventilation outlet 24. Normally, air circulation is forced by blower device 15 disposed at the air inlet side of air conditioning system 10. A first damper 25 is disposed adjacent to defroster outlet 22 and ventilation outlet 24 to control the opening and closing of defroster outlet 22 and ventilation outlet 24. A second damper 26 is disposed adjacent to footer outlet 23 to control the opening and closing of footer outlet 23.
Heater core 17 of heater unit 13 is placed downstream from evaporator 16, so as to divide the main passageway through heater unit 13 into two passageways. That is, heater core 17 is placed so as to partly cover the main passageway through heater unit 13 and to form a bypass passageway 31 in heater unit 13. First heater core inlet damper 20 is disposed on the front or inlet side of heater core 17, so that it can cover the heat exchanger area of heater core 17 or close bypass passageway 31. In this manner, bypass passageway 31, through which cooled air passes, is provided in heater unit 13.
Air mixture chamber 30 is located at the rear or outlet side of heater core 17 and functions as an air mixture chamber. In air mixture chamber 30, the portion of air that has passed through heater core 17 and the portion of air that has passed through bypass passageway 31 may be mixed with one another so as to control the temperature of air flowing out into the automobile compartment through at least one of outlets 22, 23 and 24.
Heater unit 13 also includes heater core damper 21 which prevents heater core 17 from being cooled by cooled air flowing from cooling unit 12. Namely, heater core damper 21 covers the rear surface of heater core 17 during the maximum cooling mode of air conditioning system 10.
In the foregoing arrangement, both the cooling unit and the heater unit require space. Additional space is also required where the first inlet heater core damper 20 is disposed and operates. Therefore, the ability to reduce the size and weight of the air conditioning system and make it more compact is limited.
These and other problems with existing air conditioning systems are addressed by embodiments of the present invention.